Iceberg rose

Downy woodpecker

This is the sharpest photo I have taken of the downy woodpecker - unfortunately not a great shot overall. It does however also show all the little holes in the bark that the woodpecker has made to get at the elm borer that killed our elm trees. I'm glad that the woodpeckers are at least getting a good meal out of the misfortune of the trees.

Save the hummingbird

The truck

doggie drama pics

Doggie drama

Earlier this week, Tawny and Vasha were playing. Well, Tawny was relaxing (she had such a hard day!) and Vasha was trying to get Tanwy to play. When Tawny doesn't want to play, she grabs Vasha by the cheek. Well, this time, Vasha pulled away so a chunk of her fur pulled out and she got this owie.

On Friday, we walked over to the neighbours to say hi and to let them know that another neighbour had had their baby (8+lb baby boy!). Tawny went off to say hello to another neighbour's dog, and they gave her this bone, which she chewed on until we took it away from her. Chewing the bone actually made her very thirsty, and I tried to take a photo of that but she started walking towards me. Anway, we have decided that due to some of the unpleasant side effects, we are no longer going to let Tawny chew on bones like that.


Here are Vasha and Tawny sitting pretty, and just relaxing. You can just tell that she's got "up to no good" in her eyes.


And sure enough. Here is Vasha once again trying to get Tawny to play. Tawny doesn't really seem too keen on it though, does she?

Special Day - August 22, 2007

August 22nd is a very special day, because it is my Mum's 80th birthday - Happy Birthday Mum!!!


It has been a dry summer so some of the trees are starting to turn already. This is a maple tree in our little "forest".



One of our neighbours is preparing to build his house. Last week there was some machinery clearing the trees where the house will be. This week, there was a machine on-site chipping the piles of trees into big piles of mulch. That is a great idea because it will leave material for landscaping.


Today the shovel was dropped off, along with the hoe ram, and they are ready for excavating and will likely start tomorrow.

Sunset August 21st, 2007

A beautiful sunset to end a beautiful day!

Dog antics

Tawny loves fetching sticks. This "stick" is more like a "log". Tawny looks very surprised here because the Jack Russell waits until Tawny carries the "stick" close to shore and then jumps in and steaks it away from her....

However the Jack Russell isn't really big enough to carry the log, so Tawny wins the log possession contest in the end. Here she is carrying the log up the hill.

A flower on a plant that we got somewhere.

One of our dragonfly friends, who unfortunately succumbed to something. They like sunning themselves on the side of our house in the late afternoon sun.

Flowers

We threw down a bunch of wildflower seed in June, but it was so hot around then and later had no rain so it was very dry. We figured the flowers just wouldn't grow. Well, a few days ago we noticed the flowers peeking up, and on closer inspection we discovered these - beautiful!

Docks and sunsets

One of our neighbours bought a dock to make it easier to get in and out of his canoe.
From L-R: Vasha, Dennis, Tawny, and Wally the Alligator.

Sunset on August 10th.

Sunset on August 13th. The red on the bottom of the clouds was pure magic!

Update on the Roses

[Click on picture to see a larger version]


Peace Rose
This really is an incredible rose. It changes colour as it matures from a bud into a gorgeous open flower.


George Vancouver (Explorer) - Gift from Debbie & Doug
One of the main complaints I have about digital cameras is that they do not render intense reds very well. This photograph is one example - I had to reduce the colour saturation on this photograph so the roses didn't look like glowing red neon blobs. This George Vancouver explorer rose is truly amazing with tons of buds (that come in threes) and honestly looks about a thousand times better to the eye than in this photo.


Closeup of George Vancouver (Explorer) - Gift from Debbie & Doug
This shows the flowers that show up in groups of threes.


Adelaide Hoodless (Explorer)
The Explorer series of roses are truly amazing. Roses look like such a delicate flower and yet these plants are so hardy, and do not need covering or special treatment to survive the harsh Canadian winters.

Two deer a day

We see deer every day. Their coats are a beautiful warm brown at this time of the year. They are so funny - they think you cannot see them if they stand as still as a tree. That may work with animals who cannot see colour, but not so much with humans who have cones in our retinas. Here, Tawny is staring at the deer, and the deer is staring back (look at the side of the road just above Tawny's head).

Birds, and other wildlife

Birds playing around and taking a shower in the sprinkler.


A Downy Woodpecker. This is one of our elm trees that was killed by the Elm Borer. At least it is providing a food source for the birds.


A Great Blue Heron.


An injured Canada Goose. It seems unable to fly, but is able to run and flap its wings without any apparent difficulty. Freda is trying to see if she can see what is ailing it.


Watch out that you don't get eaten by the Jiulia Lake alligator!!


One of the denizens of the night met an untimely demise - our furry flying friends feed on skitters and such...


A baby garter snake - at its biggest point, it was no bigger around than a pencil! This baby was slithering across the road. We hope it made it.


The place is infested with friendly Labrador Retrievers!!! Here, one of friends new babies (about 8 mos old) is playing with Tawny.

Rescuing a Kong, and Mother Nature

Can you see the sunken Kong in this photo? A Kong is a fetch toy we throw for Tawny.


Here I am - I snared the rope on the Kong with a rake.


And here is the Kong after I rinsed the dirt off it. The rope is still embedded with dirt.


We had high winds that blew an old elm down. The top of the tree broke off and someone put it over on the left side of the road.